Bouillon Racine, a bouillon on rue Racine since 1906

Bouillon Racine, a bouillon on rue Racine, opened in 1906 in the Latin Quarter. The Chartier family, already on rue du Faubourg-Montmartre since 1896, named it the Grand Bouillon Camille Chartier, still written over the door; common use gave it the name of its street.

The architect Jean-Marie Bouvier and the ceramicist Louis Trézel created an Art Nouveau interior shaped by Hector Guimard: carved panelling, wrought iron, mirrors with plant motifs. Camille Chartier ran the house until 1926. That year Simon Petliura was assassinated by Samuel Schwartzbard as he left the restaurant.

Renamed Bouillon Ollé, then Joussot, it was bought in 1962 by the University of Paris and served as the Sorbonne staff canteen until 1993. The Belgian chef Olivier Simon revived it with the decorator Agnès Emery; the Compagnons du Devoir restored its bevelled mirrors, gold leaf and panelling, and it reopened in 1996. It was listed in 1995.

A step from the Sorbonne and the Odéon theatre, Bouillon Racine serves home-made French cooking every day under chef Alexandre Belthoise, with a bar and rooms for groups.